When You Need Me
by Storm Princess
Summary: When Mario is on vacation in Sarasaland, a twelve year old Peach is kidnapped and gets in serious trouble. Will Luigi be able to help her?
1. GoodBye In A Different Way

Chapter 1

Good-Bye in a Different Way

A/N: Hey, I'm back! This is a story idea I've been working on for quite a while and finally decided to post! Okay, I'm going to stop with all the !s in my A/N's cause' it's really starting to annoy me now. Anyway, read and review.!?

_It started out as a normal day for twelve year old Princess Peach. She had done most of her duties as heir to the throne for the day and was going to go find her fifteen year old friend Mario. Yes, it started out as a normal day. But it would be the day that would change her life forever. _

"Peach! Hey, Princess!" Peach turned around and saw Mario running toward her, looking out of breath. He ran next to her, composed himself and smiled. "Hi."

She smiled back. "Hi." He looked kind of nervous about something so Peach raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong? Summer just started and school is out. You should be jumping for joy!"

He smiled. "Peach, I've got something to tell you. My dad and I are going to Sarsaland for the summer. He thought we should do some 'bonding'."

"The whole summer?" she asked, surprised.

"Yeah. I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too, Mario." She leaned forward slightly and he did as well. Then they kissed for the first time. It was a kiss between friends, not having anything else attached. They parted and Mario grinned.

"Whoa. What was that?" he asked, blushing slightly.

Peach grinned at his reaction. "Just thought I'd say good-bye in a different way. Give you something to remember me by."

Mario's face turned the color of his hat. Obviously embarrassed, but extremely happy as well, he turned around and started to walk away. "IgottogoPeachseeyoulater!" he said in a rush. Peach smiled. What an awesome friend.

A/N: The end! Of the first chapter! Sorry guys, this isn't going to be a Mario/Peach story. Don't throw things okay? Erm… I'll get the next chapter up soon? (ducks) R&R!


	2. A Not So Simple Request

Chapter 2

A Not So Simple Request

Peach sat quietly on her bed, reading her favorite book, "When You Need Me". It was about a thirteen year old girl and her best friend that was always there for her. She loved reading, and often lost herself in the world of books. She was so into the book and lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice the person, for lack of a better word, sneaking up behind her.

Suddenly someone grabbed her from behind and dragged her out her window, shoving her into a waiting helicopter. Peach turned in the seat she was now sitting in and glared at her captor. "Who are you? What do you want?" her kidnapper, a skinny… thing with a pointy hat and weird outfit completely ignored her, focusing on manning the helicopter.

After a few minutes, Peach got the point that she wasn't going to get any information from him anytime soon, so she settled for annoying him instead. First, she talked in detail, and I mean detail, about the book she was reading. Then, after she finished doing that, she found her niche singing "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (She had managed to sneak a copy of the CD past Toadsworth and listened to it a couple times before he found it.) just loud enough to make her kidnapper's eye twitch.

"And I forget just why I taste, oh yeah, I guess it makes me smile, I found it hard, it's hard to find…"

"Were here." He couldn't have sounded more relieved. He landed the helicopter, grabbed her wrist, and pulled her into the castle.

"Whoa…" Peach said softly. She had heard of this place, she was sure of it. She just couldn't remember where... She glanced up and saw a koopa, much scarier looking then the guy who had her, eyeing her.

"Well done, Kamek. I'll take it from here." Kamek nodded and released Peach's arm. He walked past Bowser muttering something to the effect of, "What the heck does that kid listen to?"

"So, you're Princess Peach, I assume?" she looked at the koopa and nodded slowly.

"Yeah." She studied him with more curiosity then fear and said; "And you're Bowser, aren't you?" He appeared to be shell shocked, no pun intended.

"How did you know that?" she shrugged.

"Toadsworth used to talk about you. He said that someone named Bowser was the king of Dark Land. I assume he was talking about you?"

Bowser was impressed. This kid had guts! He had s_ervant_s that showed more fear then she did around him. But that was why he had chosen her wasn't it?

"Look, Peach, I brought you here for a reason. Come with me." She wordlessly followed him to a hospital wing and stopped when he did, staring at the koopa within one of the rooms who was hooked up to many machines.

"Who's that?"

"That's my wife, Peach. She has a rare disease called Magikoopalous, which means that her shell is infected and she is literally rotting away inside it. Magikoopalous can't be cured, and my wife is dieing. She'll be dead in three days, tops."

"But what does that have to do with me?" Peach asked innocently.

"Well, my wife is pregnant. She has been carrying our child for almost a month now and we can't expect her to give birth so early. What I need to do, Peach is a birth transfer. Take the baby inside and let someone else carry it for the remaining three months and then give birth. And that Peach, is where you come in." he paused and let her process the information.

"What! You want me to give birth to your kid?"

"Yes. I've been watching you since my wife was diagnosed and I know you are a very mature competent girl. I need this kid to be born so I'll have an heir to the throne. Peach, please do this." She sighed, contemplating her options._ Well, if it takes only three months to deliver a koopa, I can do it before Mario gets back. Maybe I can find someone at home who can help me too. _She nodded and made her decision.

"Alright, Bowser. I'll do it under two conditions. Number one, right after the delivery, you release me."

"Granted."

"Number two, I get to go back to the Mushroom Kingdom and bring back one person to help me through the birth."

"Granted. I'll have Kamek take you back in the helicopter. I'll give you one day to pack your belongings, find someone, and bring them back. Be at the Mushroom Gardens at 9:30 tonight and Kamek will take you back here."

Peach nodded and got into the helicopter. She knew who she would ask.

A/N: I don't know if you guys consider this a cliffhanger, but either way I'll update soon! Now the mystery is: who is this kid?


	3. Asking For Help

Chapter 3

Asking For Help

A/N: In order to truly understand this fic you need to have gotten ten shine sprites on Mario Sunshine. That's all I'm saying.

"Luigi! Luigi!" Peach didn't know where Luigi was, but she figured he would have to be deaf to not hear her scream that loud. She ran up to a toad. "Hey, have you seen Luigi?" She asked franticly.

"No, honey I haven't."

Where could he be? She scanned the area and her eyes fell on her target, he was walking the other way, somehow having missed her yelling for him. _Sheesh. Guys can be so oblivious. _She walked up to him and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around and smiled.

"Hey, Princess! You okay? You look out of breath."

_So much for oblivious. _"Uh, Luigi, can we talk somewhere a little less crowded? I have to tell you something." He raised an eyebrow, a question in his eyes. But he nodded, took her by the hand and led her to the Mushroom Gardens which thankfully weren't crowded at the time and sat down on one of the benches. She took a seat next to him and smiled. "Thanks Luigi."

"You're welcome. Now why don't you tell me what this is all about?" she sighed, knowing he would ask.

"Well, Luigi I don't think there's any easy way to tell you this so I'll just say it. I'm pregnant."

"What!" his eyes widened in visible shock. "It wouldn't be with anyone I know would it?"

"No! I'm actually not pregnant yet, but I will be soon." He frowned, even more confused now. She told him the whole story, the kidnapping, Bowser's wife dieing, and his request. "And he said I can bring one person back to Dark Land to help me through it, which is why I'm telling you all this Luigi. I want to ask you."

Luigi was shocked. Shocked that this Bowser guy would ask a kid like her to do something like this. Shocked that she trusted him enough to confide in him like this. Shocked that he was going to say yes. How could he turn her down? There was clearly no one else she could go to, what with Mario gone and everything. He smiled in what he hoped was a comforting matter.

"I would be honored Princess."

She smiled back with a slightly nervous edge, pleased that he wasn't angry or anything like that. "Thank you so much Luigi. I knew I could count on you. Bowser said we have to be here at 9:30 tonight so he can take us back. You should start packing, I'll meet you here a 9:15, okay?"

"Sounds good to me Princess." She smiled again, more relaxed this time.

"Peach."

She stood up and walked away. She had to pack.

Peach returned to the Mushroom Gardens at 9:14, and sat on the bench she and Luigi had sat on earlier.

"Peach." She turned slightly and saw Luigi take a seat next to her. She smiled at him.

"Hi." He eyed her with obvious concern.

"You okay?"

"Yeah. It's just that…" She sighed, not knowing how to put her concerns into words.

"What?"

"Yesterday I was just a normal twelve year old, you know, carefree and happy school was out and all that. Now I'm pregnant and going _willingly _back to Dark Land with you. Not that I mind being with you." She added as an afterthought.

He nodded, somehow understanding her jumbled thoughts. "It's a lot to process, and you've had to do it in such a short period of time which shows incredible maturity on your part. I think that you'll do fine." He told her, patting her arm.

"Thanks. Hey, by the way, what did you tell your mom? She must have had some questions when you said you'd be gone for three months."

He grinned, looking slightly guilty. "I told them that you and I were going to stay with friends of Daisy's in Sarsaland. She didn't question that since she knows that's where Mario and dad are staying. But she did make me promise to call when I got there."

"And how do you plan on doing that?"

Luigi shrugged, looking even guiltier now. "They must have phones in Dark Land. I'll just use one of theirs."

They heard a slightly noisy whirring then and looked up too see a helicopter landing next to them. The driver, who Peach recognized as Kamek, gestured for them to get in. They did so and sat in the back. Luigi, sensing Peach's uneasiness, took her hand and squeezed it reassuringly. And he didn't let go until the helicopter reached the castle.


	4. The Transfer

Chapter 4

The Transfer

A/N: Well, here's another chapter! I'd just like to point out that this is not going to be a Bowser/Peach story. (ducks again) Sorry guys but if you want that pairing you'll have to read someone else's story. Kaggerz is good in that category. Anyway, R&R!

Luigi wasn't sure what to expect as far as what Dark Land looked like. He basically assumed it would be one of those creepy fairy taleish places like you read about in story books. He was totally right. It was a… well… dark land. Villainous looking plants circled the perimeter of the castle, as well as did villainous appearing creatures. And instead of water filling the moat, it was full of lava instead. _Original, original. _

Kamek landed the helicopter and got out, apparently not really caring what Luigi and Peach did. Peach nudged Luigi's shoulder and whispered: "Shouldn't he be dragging us in there? At any rate, shouldn't he be guarding us or something in case we decided to run?"

Luigi shrugged. "Where would we go?"

Peach blushed, she hadn't considered that. He smiled at her and they followed Kamek into the castle. Bowser was there to meet them. "Good to have you back Peach. I see you brought your friend."

"Yeah. Luigi this is Bowser. Bowser, Luigi."

Luigi eyed him suspiciously. "I know. Peach has told me a lot about you." He said in a tone that held a little contempt.

Bowser picked up on his tone and smirked. "That's funny, she hasn't mentioned you at all." He could play that game. Heck, he could swim _circles_ around the kid when it came to subtle insults. "Oh, Peach, I need you to come with me. My wife's condition is getting worse as we speak and we need to do the transfer immediately."

"But what about Luigi?"

"My minions will get him settled in his temporary room. They can take your bags to your room too if you would like."

Peach nodded. "That's fine." She spared Luigi one last glance and followed Bowser.

Bowser led her into the room next to his wife's and told her to wait there while he summoned the nurses. She sat on the bed and stared into space, patiently waiting for something to happen. Two minutes later he returned with what appeared to be two young girls, young adults specifically.

"These are the nurses? Why couldn't one of these girls carry your kid?"

Bowser chuckled, obviously finding that humorous. "Peach, these 'girls' are robots. This one is number 219 or Skylar as we like to call her. This one is number 635 or Ariel."

"But… they looks so real." The one he called Skylar had shoulder length light brown hair, green 'eyes', and light skin, similar to Peach's. Ariel had light blond hair and blue 'eyes' with the same skin color as Skylar's. They were actually kind of pretty. Okay, they _were_ pretty.

"They were designed that way." He nodded and Ariel took a needle with some kind of liquid in it and poked Peach's arm. Peach suddenly felt very tired, and the last thing she remembered hearing was Skylar saying; "We're ready, Bowser." Then everything went black.


	5. Trust

Chapter 5

Trust

Peach opened her eyes slowly. She remembered coming to the hospital wing, getting poked with the needle, then nothing. _It must have been some kind of knockout drug._ She looked around and saw Bowser standing over her with Skylar and Ariel by his side.

"Good to see you awake, Peach."

"What happened?" she asked, her brain still slightly blurred, an aftereffect of the drug.

Ariel stepped up. "The transfer was successful. In three months the kid will come out."

"So I'm pregnant?

"Yes."

Peach sat up, suddenly feeling more alert. "May I leave now?" Bowser nodded. Peach started to walk away and then paused. "Could you show me where my room is? And Luigi's too?"

Bowser smiled. "Ariel, show her Luigi's room and her own."

Ariel nodded and led Peach to a standard looking room. "This one's yours. And Luigi's is the one next door. The bathroom is right down the hall."

Peach nodded. "Thank you." Ariel left and Peach walked out of her room. _This one must be Luigi's room. The door is closed. _

She knocked lightly and heard a distracted "Come in." _I hope he's not busy._ She thought as she opened the door. Luigi was inside playing a video game on his Game Boy and looked up to see his visitor. "Oh, Peach! I'm sorry, I thought it was Bowser or something." He turned off his video game and put it down. "What's up?"

Peach took a seat next to him on the bed. "Well, the transfer was successful. I- I'm pregnant." She said, coming to terms with it herself.

"How do you feel about that?"

She sighed. "I don't even know. Part of me feels happy, part of me feels weird, most of me feels guilty…"

"Why do you feel guilty? You haven't done anything wrong."

"It's just that, you promise you won't tell anyone?"

He nodded. "I promise. Scout's honor."

She smiled and continued. "Well, if I ever get married, god forbid, how would I explain this? Would I be forced to live with this secret the rest of my life? The people of the Mushroom Kingdom don't know about birth transfers. They most likely won't listen to one person's opinion over the whole civilizations."

"Well, if this person really cared about you they wouldn't desert you over something you couldn't help. Even if it's a hard concept to accept, they should believe you because they love you and trust you. Because sometimes, when you love a person, trust has to be enough."

Luigi and Peach continued to talk deep into the night, both feeling the bond that was growing between them.

A/N: This one was sure a hard chapter to write! The story might be a little confusing for a while, but it will all clear up in the end and all questions will be answered. Thanks for reading!


	6. Feelings?

Chapter 6

Feelings?

Peach stared into space, lost in thought. _It's been two months since I agreed to do this. That means in one month I'll give birth doesn't it? Of course it does, this is what I've been working towards. The only thing that's different so far is the pain. But it will all be over soon. I hope._

Luigi roamed the gardens in Dark Land, currently bored out of his mind. He had beaten his video game and the other seven he had brought with him. He and Peach were basically allowed to go anywhere they wanted, provided they stay in Dark Land. _We don't even have a curfew. It's kind of like a vacation actually. For me anyway. I can't_ _even imagine what Peach is going through. She doesn't give any indication that she's in any pain but she's always been good at masking that. I just hope that she's okay._

He saw Peach sitting cross-legged on the grass of the garden. He walked up to her and sat down next to her. "What are you thinking about?" he asked mildly. She jolted slightly, casting herself out the little world she was in.

"What do you this kid's gonna look like? I know that Bowser's wife carried him for a month, but do you think that I'll have done it for long enough for him to have any human tendencies?"

"I don't know. I guess we'll just have to wait until next month to find out."

"Yeah…" the princess trailed off.

"What's up?" Luigi could always tell when there was something on Peach's mind. The amount of time they had spent together lately had a lot to do with that.

"Nothing, just thinking…" she seemed to trail off a lot when she was nervous about something.

"Really it's nothing. I'm going to go inside for a while okay? I'll see you later." She got up and walked away. Luigi sighed, he could tell something was up but he didn't want to push her. Hopefully she would either work it out or tell him. Either way was fine with him.

Peach noticed something about herself recently. She seemed to trail off when she was thinking about something deep._ Luigi obviously noticed that. Maybe I should have just told him._ She shook her head. _How could I possibly tell him? We're just friends. He wouldn't understand. Even though he seems to understand everything else. _

She had trusted him with everything on her mind but she couldn't tell him this. Why? She had a hard time answering herself. She figured it was because of fear. _Fear that he won't understand… _

She had bonded with him a lot during the past two months and found herself liking him. How could she not? He was sweet, kind, caring, and funny. He was the one that she was able to talk to, confide in.

She didn't have that level of trust with many people. Since she was princess, she was always worried that if she told her secrets, the person she told would tell somebody else and then that person would tell somebody else and then… well you get the picture. She felt she didn't have to worry about that with Luigi. That she didn't have to worry that he would betray her. Did she love him? Well, that was anyone's guess.


	7. Attempted Confessions

Chapter 7

Attempted Confessions

Luigi had noticed that Peach seemed a little distant lately. She wasn't as cheerful as she normally was, she didn't talk as openly with him lately, and she seemed to stare into space a lot. Whether this was a side effect of the pregnancy or something a lot deeper, he didn't know. But he was determined to find out.

He walked over to Peach's door and knocked. He didn't hear a response so he cracked the door open a little and saw Peach on her bed staring into space again.

"Peach?"

"Huh? Oh. Hi Luigi."

"Princess we need to talk." He sat next to her on the bed. "Are you okay? You seem real distant lately. I want to help you but I don't know what's wrong. Please tell me so I can help you."

Peach sighed, he was very convincing. But she just couldn't tell him. "It's nothing."

"C'mon Peach. You can't lie to me, I know you too well. Just talk to me." No response. "Peach, I'm not leaving until I get an answer. C'mon. Trust me."

Peach looked into his concerned blue eyes. She had to tell him now. "It's…" she stopped, feeling something odd in the pit of her stomach.

"Peach, are you okay?"

"Luigi, I think my water just broke."

A/N: Ooooohhhhh, evil cliffy! Don't worry, I'll update soon!


	8. The Birth

Chapter 8

The Birth

A/N: Hey, I'm back! And this chapter isn't short! (At least not by my standards) Sorry it took me so long, it was a hard chapter to write and I've been going on You Tube a lot recently. (Is that one or two words? Oh well.) Hey, btw, has anyone seen those celebrity jeopardy videos with Sean Connery and Alex Trebek? They are the funniest videos ever! Well, on with the show! R&R people!

Luigi's eyes widened with significant worry. "What? That's not possible; the kid's not due for another month!"

Peach was starting to sweat now. "It doesn't matter! I'm having contract…" she stopped, seemingly in a lot more pain.

"What? What!"

"Contractions!"

"We got to get you to the hospital quick." He helped Peach up and slung her arm around his shoulder, supporting her. He realized then that he didn't know where the hospital was, but he wasn't planning on letting that stop him. He stopped one of Bowser's minions (Not hard to do since they were staring at them anyway.) And asked him where the hospital was.

"Um, down the hall to the left."

"Thanks." Luigi walked her over to the wing and found Skylar cleaning one of the windows. "Hey, we need some help over here!" she turned around and helped Peach onto one of the beds and called Ariel and Bowser, telling them the situation. She turned and faced Luigi again. "There's nothing more you can do here. You should go."

Peach reached out and grasped his hand tightly. "Don't go Luigi…"

He never even considered leaving. He may only be fourteen, but he would do everything within his power to help Peach. "Don't worry Peach, I'm not going anywhere. I promise."

She visibly relaxed but she didn't loosen her grip on his hand. That was fine with him. He sat down next to her bed and waited for something, anything to happen. Ariel and Bowser came in, obviously having rushed over. Ariel appeared to be skeptical about something.

"She's in here already? The kid shouldn't be due for another month." Luigi gave her an uncharacteristic death glare.

"Are you saying you can't help her?"

"No, but the kid will probably come out weird, just to warn you."

"What do mean weird?" Luigi demanded.

"Reeeeaaaaalllllyyyyy small."

"Oh."

Peach was breathing really hard now; the contractions were less then a minute apart. Ariel was becoming concerned. "We have to calm her down. If she keeps this up, she might have a miscarriage."

Peach had heard that she might have a miscarriage if she couldn't calm down, but she was under so much pressure that she just couldn't seem to do it. She tried looking around the room trying to focus on something, something that could help her. Then she heard Luigi singing in a soft tone.

_Whenever you call me you know I'll be there, whenever you need me you know I'll be there_

Peach relaxed a bit, he had a soft soothing voice that helped calm her down.

_And it's times like this that I know you need me more then ever before_

Skylar glanced at the readings and smiled. "Her blood pressure is going down and the readings are going back to normal. Keep it up, Luigi."

_This is the time, this is when it counts that I be there for you no matter what and I can finally prove without a doubt that I care for you more then anything else, yeah baby, I'm proving my love_

Peach screamed, the pains of labor were intensifying severely. It was unlike anything she had ever felt before. She just hoped that it would all be over soon.

Luigi stopped singing when he noticed the way that Peach was reacting. He knew it wasn't to him, but he would have to try something else to calm her down for the time being.

"C'mon Peach! Push!" Ariel commanded.

Peach groaned and Luigi squeezed her hand, which she was still gripping firmly. "Peach, I'm here. You're going to be okay."

"Luigi…" she moaned.

"I'm here. It's almost over; just stay with me a little while longer okay? Trust me."

She nodded and grasped his hand tighter. She was always able to trust him when he said it like that. It was what he said when they first met, wasn't it?

Flashback

_Two boys were cornering kid dressed in green when the then seven year old Peach walked by. "C'mon Luigi, you know you aren't going to get out of this," said the skinny one. _

"_Yeah," said the fat one. "You owe us that money."_

"_But I didn't borrow any!" protested the kid in green. _

"_You did if we say you did." The skinny one raised his fist to hit him and Peach cried out: _

"_Hey!" the boys turned around in shock. "Who are you? What the heck do think you're doing?"_

"_Well, in the order you asked, I'm Waluigi and this is Wario. And we are in the process of beating up this twerp over here._ _And who are you?" he was pretty menacing for his age, which Peach guessed to be ten or eleven, but Peach narrowed her eyes and replied:_

"_I'm Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom."_

_Walugi and Wario stared at each other for a few seconds and then laughed. "Ha, ha, ha! Princess!" _

_Then the boy in green, who had managed to get away from behind the corner, grabbed Peach's hand and pulled her away from the two boys who were still in the process of laughing their asses off._

"_Hey! Where are we going?"_

_He spared her a glance and kept running. "Away from them! They will still want to beat us up after their done laughing at you." _

"_Are you sure you know where you're going?" _

_He paused for a second and looked into her eyes. "Trust me." He said simply. Then they started running again. He pulled her into and alleyway and smiled. _

"_Hi, I'm Luigi." _

"_I'm Peach." A brief silence followed and Luigi shrugged. _

"_So, were you telling the truth about being Princess? Or was that a really clever way of distracting them?" _

"_I was telling the truth." She was going to say more but she saw Luigi put a finger to his lips and glanced in the other direction. Wario and Waluigi were running past the alley, yelling for Luigi. When they passed, Luigi grinned. _

"_I told you they'd be back." Peach grinned back. She liked him already._

End Flashback

Ariel pulled something out and smiled. "It's over, Peach." She gestured to the now crying bundle in her arms. Skylar handed her a blue blanket and smiled.

"It's a boy."

Bowser was ecstatic. "Well done, Peach! A boy. Wow! I think I'll name him Bowser Jr.

Ariel handed the bundle to Peach and smiled. "He's kind of small, but he'll be okay."

Peach smiled in a protective sort of way at the tiny koopa. "Bowser Jr. He looks just like his father." She handed him over to Luigi who gave the kid a small smile and handed him to his dad.

"I guess he is kind of cute…"

Peach nodded and closed her eyes. Luigi smiled and released her hand, intending to let her sleep. Skylar apparently didn't share that opinion and tapped Peach's shoulder.

"Let her sleep, she'll be okay."

"I have to make sure she stays awake for a while. If she goes onto a deep enough sleep this soon after a tough labor like this, it could be fatal for her." Peach didn't respond, even after being nudged again. Skylar frowned. "This could be bad." She muttered.

"What's wrong?" asked Luigi.

"I think she's in a coma."

A/N: I decided to stop it here to make suffer and wait to see what happens next! Sorrrryyyy! I hate doing that to people, but it's so much fun!


	9. The Aftermath

Chapter 9

The Aftermath

Luigi sat on the chair right beside Peach's bed. She hadn't woken up since she had fallen asleep yesterday, and Skylar said that she could be in a coma, which she may snap out of tomorrow or ten years from now, it was hard to tell with comas. He hoped it would be soon since she had to return to the Mushroom Kingdom in a little less then a month.

After a while, time began to lose meaning to Luigi. He had no idea how many days he had been there with her. He just sat. He didn't eat anything and barely drank. He just sat. Once in a while one of the nurses would come in to tell him to leave or get some sleep or whatever, but he ignored them all.

He.

Just.

Sat.

After a while though, they just left him alone. It was just him and her, which was just fine with him. He looked at her, her eyes were closed, her breathing steady. He wished she would wake up.

"Peach? Peach, can you hear me?" He didn't think she could, but it was worth a shot. She didn't respond and Luigi sighed. "I wish you would wake up. I've been sitting here for what's probably been days now; just hoping you're going to be okay. I guess that's a sacrifice you make when you care about someone, huh?" he sighed again.

"C'mon Peach, you can't give up on me now. You mean the world to Mario and I, neither of us could stand to see you get hurt. I…" Luigi paused; he was starting to get a little choked up. "From the moment we met I liked you a lot. When we took those pictures in that booth at the carnival, I used to stare at them for hours and just think about you. It's kind of embarrassing to admit this, but I used to sing "Part of Your World (reprise)" when I'd look at them sometimes. What a dork, huh?" He heard someone knock softly on the door and glanced up. Ariel stood in the doorway.

"If you're going to ask me to leave, it won't do you any good. I'm not going to leave her alone." Ariel smiled slightly.

"I know, I just thought I'd bring you something to drink. It won't do either of you any good if you die watching her." She offered him a glass of water. Luigi accepted it and smiled at her.

"Thank you."

She nodded and left. He heard Peach groan softly and looked up. Peach was awake!

She smiled at him and he hugged her. "Luigi," she said softly.

"Hey, good to see you awake, princess."

"How long have I been asleep?"

"Almost a week, princess." Luigi and Peach looked up and saw Skylar standing in the doorway. "You gave us a good scare; we thought we lost you there for a while. It's good to see you're okay. I'll leave you two alone now."

Luigi looked at Peach and noticed that she was smiling at him. "Luigi, she said I'd been asleep for almost a week. Were you here with me all that time?"

Luigi blushed. "Yeah, I didn't know it had been that long. I didn't want to leave you alone."

"Thank you."

"Anytime."

Peach sighed. "Luigi, there's something I have to tell you."

"What's on your mind princess?"

"Remember the day when you asked me what was bothering me? Right before I came here?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I'm ready to tell you." He raised his eyebrows in an 'I'm listening, go on' matter and she continued.

"I've liked you a lot since the day I met you. I've always considered you and Mario as my closest friends. But… ever since we've been spending so much time together, I feel like we have something special. What I'm trying to say is, Luigi, I think I love you."

There, she'd say it. Now she would just wait for him to do something _anything_. Whether he'd feel the same way or laugh at her was his decision. And if he laughed at her, well, Mario was kind of cute… She finally looked Luigi in the eyes and noticed that he wasn't laughing. He actually looked, well, kind of glassy eyed. "Well, say something." She pried gently.

A slow smile appeared on his face. "Thank you, Princess Peach." He took her in his arms and a moment that seemed an eternity in coming finally did. Their lips pressed together and they kissed. It had meaning and it was perfect. But all good things come to an end and eventually they had to part. They stared into each others eyes for a moment and finally Luigi spoke up.

"I guess we'd better pack."

Peach smiled. "Yeah."


	10. Return To The Mushroom Kingdom

Chapter 10

Return To The Mushroom Kingdom

Peach and Luigi entered the helicopter, which was not surprisingly manned by Kamek. They had finished packing the previous day and were ready to return to the Mushroom Kingdom. They would return right on time, despite Bowser Jr's birth being a month early and Peach's coma only lasting a week.

Peach looked out the window in silence the entire trip, exhausted from the birth, the coma, the kiss, everything. Luigi seemed to understand her wanting to just remain silent and looked out his window as well. Unsurprisingly, her exhaustion caused her to fall asleep…

Peach awoke with a start, for a second not knowing where she was. She noticed she her head was resting on Luigi's shoulder and sat up, suddenly feeling more alert. He had let her sleep on him. Well, at least she hadn't drooled on him in her sleep.

Kamek landed the helicopter in the Mushroom Gardens and Luigi jumped out, pausing to help Peach out. They looked around, not knowing what to do next.

"Hey, isn't that Mario?" Peach asked, breaking the silence.

Luigi studied the short figure for a second and grinned. "Yeah! Let's go say hi." They walked over to the red clad Mario and smiled.

"Hey, you guys! So you're back early too huh? Mom told me you were staying in Sarasaland with friends of Daisy's. I didn't see you there though." Mario said in one breath.

"We basically decided to keep to ourselves." Luigi explained/lied.

"Yeah. Did you have a good time?" Peach asked.

"Eh, okay. My dad was serious about the whole 'bonding' thing, and I spent most of the time with him." He put on a mock torture face and Luigi and Peach laughed, knowing this was his way of saying he had a good time. "How about you guys?"

Luigi and Peach looked at each other for a second and smiled at the thought of their secret.

"The best time ever."

A/N: The end! For real this time! Wow, that was hard to write. I probably won't be writing any more Luigi/Peach stories 'cause I don't think I did a real good job on this one, and I'm more into Mario/Peach and Luigi/Daisy pairings anyway. I don't know if I'll write a sequel either, but if you guys ask me I might. (But I doubt anyone will) Either way, thanks for reading!


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